Oil Finder

Custom Lubricant Formulation

When an off-the-shelf product won’t meet your performance target, operating conditions, or market requirement, we develop the formulation.
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When Standard Products Aren't Enough

Most lubricant requirements are met by an existing formulation. Some aren’t.
You may be operating in conditions a standard product wasn’t designed for — sustained high ambient temperature, heavy dust loading, extended drain intervals. You may need a specification your current supplier can’t produce. You may be building a brand around a genuine technical differentiator rather than a relabelled commodity. Or your destination market may demand a certification or performance grade that your current range doesn’t carry.
Custom formulation is the answer to all four. We develop the product against your defined performance targets, produce a sample for your testing, and refine it until it does what you need — then manufacture it at scale in our Hamriyah plant.

What you Can Specify

A development brief can be built around any combination of:

Viscosity grade

SAE, ISO VG or application-specific

Performance specification

API, ACEA or OEM-referenced targets

Base oil group

Mineral, semi-synthetic or full synthetic

Additive package

Anti-wear, detergent, dispersant, anti-oxidant, extreme pressurebatch testing with full documentation

Operating conditions

Temperature range, load, contamination exposure, drain interval

Application

Automotive, industrial, marine, or a specific equipment type

Market requirements

Certification, labelling or regulatory demands of your destination

Cost target

A formulation engineered to hit a specific landed price point
The last one matters more than most manufacturers admit. A specification is only useful if the resulting product can be sold profitably in your market — so tell us the target price and we will work backwards to what’s achievable.
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The Development Process

Brief

  • We establish what the product needs to do, where it will operate, what it must comply with and what it needs to cost.

Feasibility

  • We confirm whether the target is achievable, and are direct if it isn't — some combinations of performance and price simply don't exist.

Formulation

  • Base oil and additive selection, then formulation against the agreed targets.

Sample Production

  • A physical sample is produced for your testing.

Testing & Refinement

  • Your evaluation, whether bench testing or field trial, feeds back into refinement. Development is iterative — expect more than one round.

Specification Sign-Off

  • The final formulation is documented and approved in writing, with TDS and MSDS issued.

Production

  • Manufactured at scale through toll blending, private label or contract manufacturing.
Development timelines depend on complexity and how quickly evaluation feedback comes back — field trials in particular are usually the longest stage, and that pace is set by you.

Who Owns the Formulation

This is agreed in writing before development begins, not afterwards. There are two standard positions:

You own it. Where you fund development and the formulation is built to your exclusive requirement, the specification is yours. We produce it for you and do not use it elsewhere.

We own it, licensed to you. Where the development builds on our existing formulations, the base specification remains ours and is produced exclusively for your brand under agreement.

Which applies depends on the scope of the work and the commercial arrangement. Either way it is documented before the first sample, so there is no ambiguity later.
Development briefs are covered by a confidentiality agreement from the outset.

Why Develop with GPL

01

Base oil supply in-house

We supply, store and distribute base oils as a core business, giving direct control over the foundation of any formulation

02

Manufacturing on site

Development moves to production in the same facility, without technology transfer to a third party

03

API and ACEA experience

Formulations built to recognised international specifications

04

Free zone location

Hamriyah’s duty structure and port access carry through from sample to full container programmes

05

Export exposure across 40+ countries

Practical familiarity with what different markets demand

What we Develop

Custom formulation work spans the full range we manufacture:
  • Automotive — passenger car motor oils, heavy duty diesel engine oils, gear oils, transmission fluids, brake fluids, coolants
  • Industrial — hydraulic oils, compressor oils, turbine oils, industrial gear oils, heat transfer fluids
  • Marine — marine engine oils, cylinder oils, system oils
  • Greases — across consistency grades and thickener types

If your requirement sits outside these categories, tell us anyway — the answer may still be yes.

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Who Uses Custom Formulation

Brands building a genuine technical differentiator rather than competing on price alone

Industrial operators with equipment running in conditions standard products weren’t designed for

Distributors entering markets with specific certification or performance demands

Equipment manufacturers needing a lubricant matched to their machinery

Fleet operators pursuing extended drain intervals or specific performance outcomes

Companies with a target price point that existing products can’t meet profitably

Start a Development Brief

Tell us what the product needs to do, where it will operate and what it needs to cost. We will tell you whether it’s achievable — and if it is, how we’d approach it.

Request a Quote
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Frequently Asked Questions

How long does formulation development take?
It depends on complexity and how quickly you can evaluate samples. Bench-tested products move faster than those requiring field trials. We confirm an expected timeline once the brief is defined.
Development work is quoted case by case, and depends on scope and the production volume that follows. We set this out clearly before starting.
Agreed in writing before development begins. See section 5 — it depends on the scope of work and the commercial arrangement.
We can develop to a performance specification. We do not reverse-engineer proprietary formulations. If you tell us what the product needs to achieve, we can work toward that.
Yes. Physical samples are produced for evaluation before any commercial production. Development is iterative, and more than one round is normal.
We tell you at the feasibility stage if a target looks unrealistic rather than taking the work and disappointing you later. Where a target proves unachievable in development, we set out what is achievable and let you decide.
Formulations are developed to API and ACEA specifications. Where formal certification is required for your market, we confirm the pathway as part of the brief.
The formulation moves into production through toll blending, private label or contract manufacturing, depending on your arrangement.

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